Drink & Drug Driving

Ok please dont switch off! this is where if you do you know you shouldnt be doing it ! Sorry guys but it has to be said. Amazingly the results published about the amount of teenagers admitting to drink and drug driving is horrific with drink driving still being a major cause of crashes within the UK. The report uncovered that one in five 17-18 year olds have admitted to committing the offence of drink driving whilst one in fourteen have admitted to driving under the influence of drugs.

One in four young drivers has been in a car when they believed the driver was under the influence of drugs, according to the 2009 RAC Report on Motoring.

These findings were the result of a study by Brake and the Co-Operative insurance companies. This indicates that unfortunatley young people driving think that it's acceptable and unfortunatly they are gambling not only their own lives but many other road users lives too. Information supplied by the government leads us to believe that on average 3 teenagers between 17 and 18 are killed or seriously injured every day across the UK in car crashes. The biggest killer of female teenagers is male teenage drivers.
FMG in the south really hits home about this subject and are doing some great work to reduce these shocking statistics.

Drink Driving

Last year around 100,000 drivers across the country thought they would not be caught while drink driving. Do yourself a favour leave the car behind!

The Legal amount of alcohol in the blood is 80mg per 100ml of blood, by now you should know what the effects are below is some information on effects on the body.

At blood alcohol level 20-50mg/ml The inability to locate or see moving lights correctly, problems judging distances and the tendancy to take risks begin to manifest.

At blood alcohol level 50-80mg/ml Impaired judgement of distance and adaptability of eyes to changing light conditions along with impaired sensitivity to red lights and severe impairment of reaction and concentration.

At blood alcohol level 80-120mg/ml Euphoria sets in, overestimating your own abilities. Impairment of your peripheral vision and increased impairment of eyes reaction to light and dark. You will also suffer impaired perception of obstacles and deterioration of the ability to assess dimensions.

At blood alcohol level 120-140mg/ml You will now be suffering major orientation problems, seriouse impairment of concentration and vision along with very delayed and impaired reactions.

Current daily guidlines for sensilble drinking

Females 2-3 units       Males 3-4 units

If you are caught drink or drug driving you will be prosecuted, check the details below for a brief listing of what could happen to YOU!

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  • Causing Death by carless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs: 14 years imprisonment, unlimited fine, disqualified from driving for at least 2 years plus a mandatory extended driving test.
  • Driving or attempting to drive whilst above the legal limit: 6 months imprisonment, a fine upto £5000 and a disqualification from driving for at least 12 months (3 years if convicted twice in 10 years)
  • Refusing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine: 6 months imprisonment, a fine of upto £5000 and disqualification from driving for at least 12 months.

Now don't belive that these sentences never get enforced, a 3 month imprisonment and a £3000 fine with a 3 year driving ban is very common.
Just think do you really want to start getting lifts everywhere or using public transport plus you will be the owner of a criminal record.

The best way to avoid being caught is to NOT DRINK OR DRUG DRIVE AT ALL.

Did you Know ?

After drinking a half pint of ordinary strength beer.
10 Minutes -50% of the alcohol consumed will have been absorbed into the blood stream
1 Hour – all the alcohol will have been absorbed
Absorption is accelerated still further when drinking on an empty stomach. Long drinks made with mixers have a faster effect as they enter the bloodstream quicker. Alcohol in the system

Midnight – after an evenings drinking there may be 200mg/100ml of alcohol in the blood.
7.30am – when you get up there is still 90mg/100ml which means you are still over the legal limit.
Midday – elimination has continued to around 20mg/100ml, your driving may still be impaired

Drug Driving

Drug driving is an accident waiting to happen just because your friend say it's cool remember it's your life, licence and your concience if you have a crash or cause one.
Have a look at how different drugs can affect your driving.

Cannabis: Smoking or eating cannabis will slow down your reaction time, impaired driving, distorted perception, poor concentration and forgetfulness.

Cocaine: Taking coke will give the user a false sense of security and falsely heighten your awareness of lights and sound, over confidence and increased risk taking, erratic behavior and paranoia remember risk taking will be very high.

Ecstasy: E's will make you believe you are a great driver. This feeling of invincibility changes the way you drive making you a greater danger on the road, you will get blurred vision, distorted perception, anxiety, nausea and of cause increased risk taking.

LSD: Acid will distort your sensory perception making this very dangerous when driving, effects will range from visual hallucinations, dizzines through to blurred vision and delusions. You could suffer from a bad trip where you could find you suffer from terrifying thoughts, panic and rapid mood changes.

Amphetamines: Speed reduces your attention span which when driving can effect your reaction time and perception of what is happening. Using speed will give you a high heart rate so sweating etc plus cramps and loss of coordination.

If convicted for driving while unfit through drugs drivers face: a ban, a fine of up to £5000 and up to 6 months in prison.

Police have different ways of testing people who they belive are under the influence of drugs this is called the FIT test (Field Impairment Testing) this is to help the police officer decide if you are impaired and unfit to drive. Below are a few possible things that an officer could ask you to take part in, you can not fake the results however hard you try:

• Testing the size of your pupils will give an indication of taking drugs, for instance a severly constricted pupil can indicate the use of opiates.
• The Romberg Test is when a driver estimates 30 seconds with their eyes close. A persons normal body clock can normally do this within an accuarcy of 20-40 seconds. Some drugs can accelerate the body clock or slow it down. This along with other tests will show drug use.
• Walk and turn test, the person must be able to take nine steps, heel to toe counting the steps out loud. Police will observe and makes notes regarding the instructions given and what mistakes are made.
• One legged stand, the person must stand with one leg raised from the ground (about 6 Inches), the police will be looking for swaying, hopping,putting feet down and raising arms etc.
• The finger to nose task is when an officer asks you to close your eyes then with either hand use the forefinger to touch the tip of your nose.

Each of these tests are relativley easy to complete when normal but harder and harder the more intoxicated you are, a number of tests are give so if you fail one it will not matter as it is an overall summary that will indicate your impairment.